Great Gore Can’t Save a Terrible Script | IFP Reviews: Ice Cream Man (2026)

Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man delivers plenty of blood, practical gore, and wildly campy horror imagery, but can great effects save a weak script?

In this IFP Review, we break down Ice Cream Man from a filmmaker’s perspective, including the practical effects and makeup that impressed us, the story and dialogue that didn’t, some very dated creative choices, and a villain motivation that arrives almost entirely through exposition in the third act.

We also discuss the performances, the movie’s 86-minute runtime, who this gore-filled horror comedy is actually for, and the biggest filmmaking lesson we took away from watching it.

So should you see Ice Cream Man now…or wait ‘til later?

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